How to get your business on Google — Search, Maps and AI answers

When a customer in Kenya needs something today, they do one of three things: search on Google, look at Google Maps, or — more and more — ask ChatGPT or Gemini. If you are not in those three places, you are not on their list. This guide walks you through getting into all three, in the order that brings results fastest.

The three places customers find you

Step 1: Set up your free Google Business Profile

This is the fastest win, and it costs nothing. It is the card that shows your name, pin, photos, hours, phone number and reviews.

1. Go to business.google.com and sign in with a Google account you will keep — ideally one for the business, not a staff member’s personal account.
2. Search for your business name. If it already exists (customers sometimes add businesses), claim it rather than creating a duplicate.
3. Choose your main category carefully. It is one of the strongest signals Google uses. “Event planner” and “Party equipment rental service” are shown for different searches.
4. Add your location or service area. If customers visit you, show your address. If you go to them, set the areas you serve instead.
5. Verify. Google will ask you to prove the business is real — usually by recording a short video of your premises and signage, sometimes by phone, email or a postcard.

Step 2: Complete every field — then keep it alive

A half-finished profile loses to a complete one. Fill in:

• Opening hours — including public holidays
• Services or products, with prices where you can
• A description in plain words: what you do, where, and for whom
• At least 10 real photos: outside, inside, your team, your work
• Your website link and WhatsApp number
• Attributes such as “accepts M-Pesa” where they apply

Then keep it alive. Post an update, an offer or new photos every week or two. Profiles that change are profiles Google keeps showing.

Choosing your category: examples for Kenyan businesses

Your primary category is one of the strongest clues Google uses to decide which searches show you. Pick the most specific one that is true, then add a few secondary categories for your other main services.

Category names are Google’s own and change from time to time — search the list when you set up your profile and choose the closest match.

Step 3: Get reviews — the right way

On Google Maps, reviews are one of the biggest reasons one business shows up above another. They also persuade the customer once they see you.

• Ask every happy customer. The best moment is right after a good experience.
• Make it one tap. Your profile has a “Ask for reviews” link — send it on WhatsApp with a short thank-you.
• Reply to every review, good and bad. A calm, helpful reply to a complaint wins more trust than a page of five stars.
• Never buy or fake reviews. Google removes them, can suspend the profile, and customers can tell.

Step 4: Get your website into Google Search

Your profile covers Maps. To show up in the ordinary results — and for the dozens of different ways people search — you need a website Google can read.

1. Connect Google Search Console. It is free, and it is how Google tells you which searches show your website, which pages are indexed and what is broken.
2. Submit your sitemap. A sitemap is a list of your pages. Submitting it in Search Console helps Google find every page.
3. Give every service its own page. One page trying to rank for “tent hire”, “chair hire” and “décor” ranks for none of them. One page each can rank for all three.
4. Write titles the way customers search. “Tent Hire in Nairobi — Prices & Packages” beats “Home” every time.
5. Make it fast on a phone. Most searches in Kenya are on phones, on mobile data. A slow page loses the visitor and the ranking.
6. Answer real questions. Prices, delivery, how long, what is included. Those are the searches customers make right before they buy.

Step 5: Become a business AI assistants recommend

When someone asks ChatGPT, Gemini or Google’s AI “who is the best photographer in Nairobi?”, the answer names a few businesses. Nobody can guarantee you are one of them — but these are the things that give an assistant reason to mention you:

• Pages that answer questions directly. Short, clear answers to the questions customers ask: price, area, what is included, how long it takes.
• Structured data. Behind-the-scenes labels on your website that state plainly: this is a business, here is its address, phone, prices and services.
• Consistency across the web. The same name, phone and address on your website, Google profile, social pages and directories.
• Real reviews and mentions. Assistants give weight to what other people say about you, not only what you say.
• A website that is open to them. Some websites block AI crawlers without knowing it. If you want to be recommended, let them read you.

We build all of this into every website — it is part of what we mean by making your business readable to AI.

A 15-minute weekly routine that keeps you visible

1. Reply to every new review — thank the good ones, answer the bad ones calmly.
2. Post one update on your Google profile: a new product, an offer, a finished job, with a real photo.
3. Send your review link to the happy customers from the week.
4. Check your hours and prices are still right — especially before public holidays.
5. Glance at Search Console once a month: which searches are growing, and which pages people click.

Mistakes that keep businesses invisible

• Two Google profiles for one business — Google splits the reviews and trust between them.
• A staff member’s personal Google account owns the profile — when they leave, access leaves with them.
• A website with one page for everything — it cannot rank for everything.
• Different phone numbers in different places — confuses Google, AI assistants and customers.
• Never looking at Search Console — it tells you, for free, exactly what customers search for.

How long does it take?

A verified Google Business Profile can start showing within days. Website rankings take longer: Google’s own guidance is that SEO usually needs four months to a year to show its full benefit. Some businesses move faster — SignSoTech went from zero to 3–5 enquiries and calls in its first month, with no ads — but plan for months, not days. We explain the timeline in SEO in Kenya: what it costs and how long it takes.

Want it done for you?

Everything above you can do yourself, and we would rather you did it than nothing. If you would rather it was done properly and quickly, our three-month Gain Traction programme covers your Google profile, your website’s SEO, reviews, ads and AI visibility — side by side with you, with a meeting in Nairobi every month.